Feinstein questioned why Elliot Rodger was able to legally obtain and keep his guns.

“We must ask ourselves if an individual whose family called police with concerns about mental health, who is receiving therapy and who has had several run-ins with police should be allowed to own multiple firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. When anyone, no matter their mental health or history, can so easily obtain any gun they want and as many as they want—we must recognize there is a problem.

“Unfortunately the NRA continues to have a stranglehold on Congress, preventing even commonsense measures like universal background checks that have overwhelming support. Americans need to rise up and say enough is enough. Until that happens, we will continue to see these devastating attacks. Shame on us for allowing this to continue.”

***

Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) said Sunday that Friday’s deadly rampage near the University of California at Santa Barbara underscores why expanded background checks for firearm sales are needed and said he hopes to pursue legislation to enhance mental health screening.

“This tragedy demonstrates once again the need to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill,” King said in an interview with The Washington Post.

King, who represents a suburban Long Island district and is one of the GOP’s most prominent gun-control advocates, also pushed Republicans to buck powerful gun rights groups.

Even in California, with some of the strictest gun control laws in the country, Elliot O. Rodger was able to amass a stash of weapons and ammunition, despite having struggled with mental health issues for years…

California has some of the nation’s strictest laws limiting the gun rights of people with mental illness, going much further than the federal standard. Still, it was unclear if the police would have even had the authority to search Mr. Rodger’s home for weapons when they went to check on him. California law permits law enforcement to confiscate firearms in such situations only if the person is admitted to a mental health facility on a so-called 5150, or a 72-hour psychiatric hold for evaluation.

California has banned high-capacity magazines, but Mr. Rodger had at least 41 low-capacity magazines, with more than enough ammunition to unleash a deadly attack, said Adam Winkler, a law professor at University of California, Los Angeles, who is an expert in gun laws.

Buried in the Second Amendment is the right to self-defense, the very mechanism that allowed our Founding Fathers to win freedom from tyranny. Some argue it is the right that guarantees all other rights. Our forefathers wanted us to be able to protect ourselves against outside threats, and even from internal tyranny. They may have even intended us to be able to protect ourselves from each other.

It is a stretch to argue they intended guns to be so available, in such strength, that children, high-school populations and co-workers and law enforcement could be so easily slaughtered…

Gun rights advocates often see a comment like that as an argument for further restriction on their use of weapons, but that’s not the way I intend it. I myself am a responsible gun owner. I believe in the right to justified self-defense. I also believe that reasonable restrictions to assure that only law-abiding citizens can purchase firearms better prevents over-restriction of our Second Amendment.

Christopher died because of craven, irresponsible politicians and the N.R.A. That’s true. That the killer in question was in the grip of a mad, woman-hating ideology, or that he was also capable of stabbing someone to death with a knife, are peripheral issues to the central one of a gun culture that has struck the Martinez family and ruined their lives. (The shooter, Elliot Rodger, had three semi-automatic handguns that, according to the Los Angeles Times, he’d purchased legally.) Why did Christopher Michael-Martinez die? Because the N.R.A. and the politicians they intimidate enable people to get their hands on weapons and ammunition whose only purpose is to kill other people as quickly and as lethally as possible. How do we know that they are the ‘because’ in this? Because every other modern country has suffered from the same kinds of killings, from the same kinds of sick kids, and every other country has changed its laws to stop them from happening again, and in every other country it hasn’t happened again. (Australia is the clearest case—a horrific gun massacre, new laws, no more gun massacres—but the same is true of Canada, Great Britain, you name it.)…

Speaking clearly also lets us examine the elements of a proposition plainly. We know that slogans masquerading as plain speech are mere rhetoric because, on a moment’s inspection, they reveal themselves to be absurd. “The best answer to a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun” reveals itself to be a lie on a single inspection: the best answer is to not let the bad guy have a gun. “Guns don’t kill people, people do.” No: obviously, people with guns kill more people than people without them. Why not ban knives or cars, which can be instruments of death, too? Because these things were designed to help people do things other than kill people. “Gun control” means controlling those things whose first purpose is to help people kill other people. (I’ve written at length about farmers and hunting rifles, and of how they’re properly controlled in Canada. In any case, if guns were controlled merely as well as cars and alcohol, we’d be a long way along.) And the idea that you can be pro-life and still be pro-gun: if your primary concern is actually with the sacredness of life, then you have to stand with Richard Martinez, in memory of his son.

***

The numbers say that so many of these guns used on innocent people, dead because they went to work or went to school, were purchased legally. It means that the real insanity in the greatest country in the world, the one for which my father and all those like him fought, is this:

This is Memorial Day 2014 then. We mourn more dead college kids along with those who laid down their lives for our freedoms, mourn more innocents gunned down on the real modern battlefield:

The streets of the United States of America.

***

With due respect to those who are asking me to comment on last night’s tragic mass shooting at UCSB in Isla Vista, CA — I no longer have anything to say about what is now part of normal American life. Everything I have to say about this, I said it 12 years ago: We are a people easily manipulated by fear which causes us to arm ourselves with a quarter BILLION guns in our homes that are often easily accessible to young people, burglars, the mentally ill and anyone who momentarily snaps. We are a nation founded in violence, grew our borders through violence, and allow men in power to use violence around the world to further our so-called American (corporate) “interests.” The gun, not the eagle, is our true national symbol. While other countries have more violent pasts (Germany, Japan), more guns per capita in their homes (Canada [mostly hunting guns]), and the kids in most other countries watch the same violent movies and play the same violent video games that our kids play, no one even comes close to killing as many of its own citizens on a daily basis as we do — and yet we don’t seem to want to ask ourselves this simple question: “Why us? What is it about US?” Nearly all of our mass shootings are by angry or disturbed white males. None of them are committed by the majority gender, women. Hmmm, why is that? Even when 90% of the American public calls for stronger gun laws, Congress refuses — and then we the people refuse to remove them from office. So the onus is on us, all of us. We won’t pass the necessary laws, but more importantly we won’t consider why this happens here all the time. When the NRA says, “Guns don’t kill people — people kill people,” they’ve got it half-right. Except I would amend it to this: “Guns don’t kill people — Americans kill people.” Enjoy the rest of your day, and rest assured this will all happen again very soon.

***

You have to hand it to the liberals: they never miss an opportunity to convert tragedy into political gain. In the wake of Elliot Rodger’s six murders–three with a knife and three with a gun, plus injuries inflicted with an automobile–they are calling, once again, for gun confiscation. I guess they are, anyway. As usual, they denounce conservatives and say things like “end the madness,” but confiscation seems to be the point of it all.

Once again, though, liberals are denied the holy grail of mass murderers–a conservative perpetrator, preferably a follower of the Tea Party. Rodger, like most of the others, was a devoted liberal. He followed the Young Turks on YouTube, a far-left group led by a goof named Cenk Uygur who once was an MSNBC host. So, foiled once again, liberals can make only their broader propaganda points…

Beyond that, some might argue that Rodger was a prototypical liberal male, only carried to a pathological extreme. Consider the profile: socially awkward, convinced of his own brilliance but not notably successful in life, hungry for revenge against those who have done better despite their obvious inferiority, eager to gain power over others, but through political influence rather than firearms–is this not a typical liberal on Twitter, or elsewhere on the internet? Or, for that matter, in the Obama administration? Isn’t state power the legal path to the long-awaited revenge of the liberal nerds? This strikes me as a plausible suggestion.

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He usually just dropped in..made one brief post and left..
I never saw anything like I just saw on the Memorial day thread.
Unhinged today…I don’t like the hammer but deserved here.
I didn’t ever pay him much attn..didn’t know he was a Ron Paul nut.

With a little “why didn’t the corrupt cops do something?” thrown in around here for good measure.
texacalirose on May 27, 2014 at 2:18 AM

I am someone who wants to know what the deputies were told. What did the family know? If there was information about a potential plot, then they should have searched the apartment. I tend not to believe the “corrupt” accusations, but I can surely believe there was laziness or incompetence, depending on what information they were given.

I tend not to believe the “corrupt” accusations, but I can surely believe there was laziness or incompetence, depending on what information they were given.

bluegill on May 27, 2014 at 2:46 AM

I find it amusing that it’s nearly always people who have never had any dealing with the police who say crap like this.

Furthermore, I am going to go with you just plain being to stupid to understand what the word corrupt means.

cor·rupt
[kuh-ruhpt] Show IPA
adjective
1.
guilty of dishonest practices, as bribery; lacking integrity; crooked: a corrupt judge.
2.
debased in character; depraved; perverted; wicked; evil: a corrupt society.
3.
made inferior by errors or alterations, as a text.
4.
infected; tainted.
5.
decayed; putrid.
Relevant Questions
What Is Corruption?
How To Remove A Virus That Corrupts Renames Files
How To Be Corrupt
How To Prevent Correctional Officer Corruption
How To Fix A Corrupt File In Itunes
How To Repair Corrupted Windows Xp
verb (used with object)
6.
to destroy the integrity of; cause to be dishonest, disloyal, etc., especially by bribery.
7.
to lower morally; pervert: to corrupt youth.
8.
to alter (a language, text, etc.) for the worse; debase.
9.
to mar; spoil.
10.
to infect; taint.

He’s a clue for you, free of charge even. Being corrupt doesn’t necessarily mean that you have been bought off or are on someones payroll.

It’s a lack of integrity, honesty and loyalty. The second that any LEO treats an individual whom he suspects of being a drug user any different than he treats the son of a rich and powerful man, he has crossed the line into corruption.

Had Elliot Roberts been the son of a known gang banger, or even just an average middle class father here in California, when Elliot’s parents called the cops and told them that their son had made threatening video’s, he would have been arrested and this whole tragedy would have been avoided.

But he wasn’t treated that way, he was instead given special treatment because his father was a very rich and powerful man.

Much attention has been paid to the “disappearing middle class” and the “vanishing American Dream.” While the observations are largely accurate, they are also misleading. The traditional three-tier model of the upper, middle and lower class broadly categorizes people according to income and net worth. One significant problem with this model is that membership in any particular class is very much in the eye of the beholder. One man’s “scraping by” is another man’s “opulent living.” This subjective and arbitrary grouping and boundary assessment inevitably gives rise to the simmering class warfare that is starting to rear its ugly head in many Western countries. Such categorization is therefore meaningless at best, if not outright deceptive as it conflates a variety of economic actors.

The chief fallacy of this model rests in the fact that it focuses on how much those actors are compensated, as opposed to how and why they are compensated. A far better perspective is perhaps gained using two classes, the Political Class and the Economic Class, with a third class emerging.

The Butcher, the Baker, the Candlestick Maker – The Economic Class

The Economic Class, at least in the United States, has historically been the numerically dominant group, although in recent decades its dominance has noticeably waned. The economic class would traditionally be called the Private Sector, but even that term has become misleading for reasons we will delve into later in this article.

Members of the Economic Class provide goods and services that are voluntarily sought by consumers and paid at rates that the market will bear. In an unfettered environment, the economic class would count farmers, engineers, coal miners, artists, physicians, janitorial staff, security guards, merchants and company executives among its membership. They participate freely and competitively in the market place, using the economic principles of Division of Labor and the Law of Comparative Advantage to increase the wealth of society as well as improve their personal position. Capital, entrepreneurial and human resources are brought together collaboratively to meet the needs of the market place. This is standard Economics 101 fare and hopefully generates little controversy among the readership. The important factor defining Economic Class membership is not the amount of money a person earns but rather their participation in the free and open market.

The Lazy Highwaymen – The Political Class

Like the Economic Class, members of the Political Class are not properly defined by their wealth but rather by how they exert influence in the market place. Whereas members of the Economic Class engage the market openly and voluntarily, members of the Political Class employ coercion and deceit to achieve their economic objectives. The coercion and deceit may either be exerted directly or, as is increasingly observed, through a variety of proxy agents. The most obvious members of the Political Class are, unsurprisingly, politicians. This group includes elected individuals at every level of government as well as various appointed officials.

In addition to this primary membership category, a second distinct group exists within the Political Class. It consists of various advocates including lobbyists, influence peddlers and miscellaneous other supplicants of government cheese. These creatures exist to serve as envoys for the third distinct group, which is made up of a patchwork of commercial entities that have learned that employing a politically well-connected pitch man replaces the need for an effective sales and marketing organization and in some cases even the requirement to have a desirable product.

Furthermore, it is commonly observed that members of the Political Class routinely migrate between the three aforementioned groups. An unfortunate consequence of allowing these economic actors to “cut in line” is that the rewarded event becomes the prevailing trend. Because of that, there is virtually no industry that has opted out of the rent-seeking game. From the military-industrial complex to agricultural subsidies, to the utterly corrupt banking system, the Political Class is inexorably claiming an increasing share of the world’s economic activity, a highly disturbing trend indeed.

Subsidized inefficiency, intentional destruction of productive assets and confiscation of property are but some of the effects that are observed when the Political Class employs force to serve those that are “more equal than others.” The arrangement can be summed up by saying that economic activity within the Economic Class places the bargaining power in the hands of the buyer whereas the economic activity within the Political Class places the bargaining power in the hand of the seller. This gives rise to dislocations in the free exchange of goods and services as well as widespread misallocations of capital as businesses adjust their practices based not on the normal mechanics of supply and demand but rather based on the dictates of the Political Class. Over the years, the scale of the intrusions of the Political Class into economies around the world, and very definitely here in the United States, has grown to the point where truly free markets are now the exception and not the norm.

Because the Economic Class operates in the realm of voluntary exchange whereas the Political Class employs force to achieve its objectives, many of which are anathema to the Economic Class, it follows that a significant amount of resources must be dedicated by the Political Class to the enforcement of their objectives. This role has traditionally fallen on the wide array of military and law enforcement organizations as well as numerous regulatory agencies and departments.

From the US military’s role in protecting the Political Class’s global interests and the IRS keeping the Treasury full, to the FDA serving “Big Pharma” and various law enforcement agencies maintaining a low-level chronic fear in the populace, the level of physical control that the Political Class needs to extend over productive resources is staggering. And in lockstep with the virtually unchecked growth in the Political Class, so has grown the size and scope of the enforcement branch deployed to protect its interests.

Paradoxically, for reasons I’ll touch on momentarily, the allegiance of this enforcement branch belongs to neither the Political Class whom they serve nor the Economic Class whom they “service.” In time, their level of influence grows to the point in which they become a class of their own. They are the Praetorian Class.

Legions and Lictors – the Praetorian Class

The Praetorian Class includes members of the Armed Services, federal, state and local law enforcement personnel as well as numerous militarized officials including agents from the DEA, Immigrations, Customs Enforcement, Air Marshalls, US Marshalls, and more. It also includes, although to a lesser extent, various stage actors in the expanding security theater such as TSA personnel. The main mission of the Praetorian Class is to keep the order of the day. This requires displaying an intimidating presence in their interactions with the Economic Class.

As the Praetorian Class ascends, the clear, albeit unstated, message that emerges is that actions and events in the Economic Class only occur with its tacit consent. Whether driving on roads, traveling in the air, visiting public land, walking down the street or even living in your own home, every action you take is predicated on its permission. By preconditioning the populace to enforcement of its edicts, most of which are completely arbitrary, the Praetorian Class sets itself up for a high degree of autonomy in its actions. This is confirmed by the fact that consequences for malfeasance within the Praetorian Class are almost never observed, and when it happens, it typically becomes a grotesque spectacle in which one of their own is sacrificed as an example, so as to keep appearances of effective internal controls.

Members of the Praetorian Class are typically recruited from the Economic Class and usually from the lower socio-economic spectrum, which offers them an opportunity for personal and professional gain that otherwise might be out of their reach. Early on in the training and indoctrination process, a strong emphasis is placed on teamwork and advancing the welfare of the team above the individual. While independent thought is never overtly discouraged, the fact is that questioning authority and failing to display complete loyalty to the team results in censure, shunning and even expulsion. Naturally, the recruit learns in short order which behavior is rewarded and responds accordingly. This forges a lifelong, unbreakable bond between the brothers-in-arms. This bond can be observed when people proudly display unit insignia and decorations decades after their departure from service.

As they serve in their martial role, members of the Praetorian Class learn to despise members of the Political Class and to view the plight of the Economic Class with detachment or even contempt. Law enforcement and military personnel will converse behind closed doors about the most horrific injustices and brutalities with cavalier amusement. While perhaps natural, their training for violence and teamwork is a fundamental cause for why members of the Praetorian Class abandon their roots and in time come to view their peers “back on the farm” with contempt. Likewise, the steady displays of the craven and treacherous character of the Political Class causes the Praetorian Class to privately disavow emotional allegiance to their masters, usually early in their service.

Naturally, as the members of the Praetorian Class socially distance themselves from both their origins and their masters, even though they are paid to do their bidding, a new group identity among them emerges. Adoption of this group identity, forged by the training, indoctrination and work, defines membership in the Praetorian Class. Some of the characteristics of this identity include:

Viewing everything and everyone according to a perceived threat posture. The members’ thought processes, beliefs and actions center on viewing the world through a paradigm of a graduated conflict spectrum and how to posture themselves accordingly. Even in the most mundane settings, their conversations tend to be awkward if not centered on their martial duties.

Tight internal socialization. Because they view life through a martial paradigm, members tend to socialize almost exclusively amongst themselves. Immediate family members are expected to do the same, which naturally occurs anyway as they can share experiences that external relationships simply are unable to address.

Loyalty is the highest honor. Whether referred to as the blue wall of silence or the brotherhood in arms, even the most egregious transgressions are buried. If the misdeeds are internal, meaning member versus member, the justice is handled internally. On the other hand, external missteps are typically swept under the rug and significant chicane is experienced by outsiders who seek to learn the truth.

In a relatively free and peaceful society, members of the communities that form the Praetorian Class lead a discrete existence. Members of the military commute to and from their place of work and are largely invisible to both the Political and Economic Class, certainly in communities that are not “Praetorian” communities. Attendance at cultural events in uniform is frowned upon, if not explicitly forbidden. During these times, members of the military and law enforcement are expected to live and operate outside the perception of other members of society, their purpose and function regarded with a sense of detachment and perhaps even subtle curiosity.

As the Political Class increasingly calls upon the Praetorian Class to ensure their order, however, their martial nature becomes more visible in the fabric of day-to-day life. This serves several purposes. For one, it allows the Political Class to demonstrate its willingness to use unlimited force to achieve its objectives, something that was always the case but is now made publicly visible. Rationalizing the increased public profile, a stream of honorifics is bestowed upon the Praetorian Class so that they may be presented as defenders of the Economic Class. This is accomplished through the time-tested use of pageantry, pomp and circumstance.

Over time, additional perquisites are bestowed upon the Praetorian Class including preferential treatment in both private and public facilities. Preferred air travel accommodations for uniformed personnel, including dedicated lines at TSA checkpoints and preferential boarding, have recently emerged as cultural standards that further distance the Praetorian Class from the masses.

Another clear change is the physical appearance of members of the Praetorian Class. The uniforms transition from relatively inconspicuous attire to “battle uniforms” such are those now standard issue to both the military and law enforcement personnel. These optics reinforce the position of the Praetorian Class as maintainers of public order, convey a message of physical dominance and establish chronic low-level fear among the masses. Sometimes referred to as the militarization of the police force, this characterization traditionally refers to the increasing firepower in even municipal police departments. Frequently lost in this observation, however, is the psychological impact that such a heavily armed police presence has on the “civilian” population – specifically that it further separates the Praetorian Class from the Economic Class.

As the influence of the Praetorian Class grows, so do the resources it consumes. This is manifested in the form of continuous “equipment” upgrades, training budgets and costly “interagency collaboration” in addition to the usual staff augmentation. This, of course, has the ancillary benefit of directing resources to equipment and service providers that are favored by the Political Class and in some cases may in fact be the primary purpose.

Perhaps less obvious is the need to constantly keep the Praetorian Class on the march. A bored Praetorian is a dangerous creature that will start looking for things to do. In order to keep the Praetorian Class engaged, they must be fed a continuous source of adversaries that they in turn actively engage. In “peace time,” actual engagement is replaced by training and rehearsing the defeat of the adversaries.

While the Praetorian Class emerges as its own entity, with allegiance only to the members’ peers, the most senior of the Praetorians are eventually invited to join the Political Class. Prior to that occurring, they are vetted for suitability, after which they become “made men.” Consider the long list of senior military officers and police chiefs that joined the ranks of the political elite. It is a sight to behold, their new-found support of the Political Class, a class they had silently held in contempt until their recent assumption. Metropolitan police chiefs, district attorneys and joint chiefs of staff are selected for political compatibility, not conviction of character.

How Does It Play Out?

History does not keep a flattering record of societies that allowed the Praetorian Class to rise. The Roman Empire’s decline from splendor to squalor extended for two centuries whereas the Nazi Third Reich collapsed in less than two decades. The continuous drain on productive resources, continuous warfare against new foes, abrogation of human rights and liberties and a pervasive culture of fear inevitably send the society into a tail spin. Some societies are able to observe the retreat of the Praetorian Class, but it is usually a function of economic necessity and often after a great price has been paid by the general population.

Unfortunately, as the tragedy unfolds, the Economic Class often tries to ride out the calamity. This is understandable, since people have a limited capacity to internalize long-term trends. In fact, because people adjust to new circumstances relatively quickly, it is almost impossible for them to compare the condition of life in the present versus the past. The common vernacular for this concept is “the new normal”, which upon the slightest reflection represents an obvious paradox, since the word normal implies a historically stable trend.

The Third Reich as a Textbook Example

History books are filled with examples of societies that have seen the rise of the Praetorian Class, followed by their own subsequent collapse, ranging from the Roman Empire to the Soviet Union. Of all the examples, however, none seems more instructive than the rise and fall of the Nazi Third Reich in Germany.

Over a period of two decades, starting with the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the end of World War II, Germany saw the rise of a charismatic demagogue, the rise of police and paramilitary forces, the development of a military-industrial complex, the assumption of industry by the State, the demonization and persecution of scapegoats finally resulting in widespread warfare and societal ruin. Because the timeline is relatively compressed compared to other historical examples, spanning a single generation, the Third Reich serves as an excellent example of the broader consequences a society experiences when we observe the rise of the Praetorian Class. Furthermore, by virtue of its recent occurrence, many cultural and technological parallels serve as clear milestones.

Call to Action for the Economic Class

In order to evade the inexorable path to ruin, two critical actions must be taken. First, it is imperative to understand historically how events play out, identifying key milestones along the process. Some milestones may include the level of military spending, such as the $700 billion that the United States spends annually on defense. Consider the escalating threat propaganda. Leading up to the war with Iraq in 2003, a common justification heard was “We gotta fight them there, so we don’t have to fight them here.” Apparently that strategy didn’t work, since the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act declared the United States part of the global battlefield. Is it the increasing monitoring and control exerted over the media, including the subpoena and detention of free-speech activists? Or perhaps it is the tortuous argument that the private minting of silver coins bearing no resemblance to US legal tender currency represents domestic terrorism.

As the saying goes, “History does not repeat, but it does rhyme”, which is to say there are events that have played out universally in the past and are likely to do so again. An implied task that emerges is the need to be an avid student of history. Usurpations of power observed today have historical precedents in some form or another and therefore serve in some instances as predictable milestones.

Second, identify the milestone that defines the “point of no return,” at which point taking no action is likely to have very adverse consequences. This is a very difficult task emotionally as it usually requires taking drastic action before circumstances clearly warrant it. It may involve winding down business and social commitments while conditions on the surface still seem fine. This, of course, represents a personal balancing act. While there is merit in the saying that it is better to be a month early than a minute late, there is a practical limit to the value of that axiom. Predicting a financial collapse twenty years early, and making adjustments accordingly, results in significant opportunities lost, both personally and professionally.

In Summary

The emergence and rise of the Praetorian Class is a common observation in societies that have transitioned from market-based meritocracies to societies governed by coercive syndicates formed by the Political Class. The Praetorian Class is formed and grown to defend the Political Class and in time becomes the dragon that rules its master. It represents a highly disturbing trend because it foretells the decline, not the advance, of a society. In some instances, the decline is peaceful, clearing the path for an improved future. Unfortunately, in many instances that is not the case. The Political Class leverages the full force of the Praetorian Class representing significant loss in wealth, personal freedom and, in many cases, human life. For this reason, it is critical that productive members of society take steps to protect themselves.

I’m very late to this thread — I’ve been working today — and I don’t have time to read the comments, so sorry if this has already been said, but I feel compelled to comment on this point: I really resent how fast this father was to politicize his son’s death. Nobody is more sorry than me that his son was killed, and, not being a parent myself, I can’t even imagine the pain that this family must be going through.

However, at least wait until the body is cold before becoming an issue-advocate. It’s just really tasteless.

Even putting aside the utter illogic of his position, and putting aside the fact that his knee-jerk reaction is to try to take away my rights, even though I’ve done nothing wrong, this speech couldn’t have waited a couple of weeks?

As I recall there were families associated with the Newtown massacre that tastefully refused to politicize the matter even weeks afterward. But this guy is diving right into it. I question his priorities.

Yeah, I mean I’m not trying to put myself in the guy’s shoes or anything, but of all the things you would choose to say, this is it? I half expected him to announce that he was running for Congress. It just strikes me as weird.

Thank you Oscar for that praetorian class article. There are things that we see happening but don’t exactly understand until someone puts it into words. I hope this system collapses soon because I don’t want to live in a world like this for long.

ok, this post literally made me LOL. In all seriousness though, I actually like chicks with curves. I’m not talking about terminally unhealthy, buried-in-a-piano-case types. But I must say, I do like a girl with curves. Mmmm mmmm.

Couldn’t the father, an assistant director, have found a suitable slut for the kid? You can’t take a pee in Hollywood without slapping a fluffer in the face.

Lonetown on May 27, 2014 at 6:37 AM

That’s what I was thinking too. You almost have to WORK at not getting laid in El Lay.

brezhenski jr comforts the msnbc crowd, by saying that the wins of the european right mean nothing. the ruling class remains in power.

renalin on May 27, 2014 at 6:20 AM

Except that it wasn’t exactly the European right. It was inroads by a movement that wants to dismantle the EU. Tad bit of difference there but it is MSDNC. Truth doesn’t matter as much as the narrative they are sent by Valarie Jarrett.

Seriously, I despise these photo-op events designed to convince the public at large that the lazy stupid coward really cares about the military. The lack of any emotion at the speech at Arlington yesterday says all that needs to be said about the rat-eared wonder’s commitment to the troops. He didn’t want to be at that ampitheater. He didn’t want to be talking about the war dead. And he didn’t do much to hide his disdain for being there.

BTW, I only saw later that Eric “vet killer” Shinseki was in attendance. Funny how he was never mentioned when acknowledging the dignitaries in the audience.

The killer ranted against taller boys who were able to get on a ride he was too short for- when he was six. The media is making this all about sex but that is too superficial, even for LA.

The reality is that his family should have intervened long before it got to the events of Friday night. And having the SBPD do a drive-by welfare check isn’t the same thing as intervening.

Happy Nomad on May 27, 2014 at 7:09 AM

That’s interesting, I hadn’t heard that. (Granted, I haven’t been following this story that closely.) But I did watch this weirdo’s video. And it certainly struck me that this wacko had much bigger problems than sex.

I’m seriously not trying to shift the narrative a la Lib style, but I do notice a trend of sons of Libs going bananas. I’m a very open minded person, but at the same time, I don’t see anything wrong with structure in life.

I was a criminal when I was young (not too long ago). I was raised by a single Liberal parent. I feel like I could have used more structure in life.

I don’t know if any of this applies here, but I think I see a pattern.

I don’t know if any of this applies here, but I think I see a pattern.

WhatSlushfund on May 27, 2014 at 7:24 AM

It usually goes back to parenting or lack thereof EXCEPT when the person is insane. This guy was a sociopath. He would have thought anybody who tried to do anything to help him was against him. He was delusional. An extreme version of Obama.

I don’t know if any of this applies here, but I think I see a pattern.

WhatSlushfund on May 27, 2014 at 7:24 AM

The pattern I see with this killer and the Virginia Tech shooter, the Aurora shooter, the Tucson shooter, and the Newtown shooter is this…… All of them had mental health issues well documented and well known by mental health professionals and their families prior to their killing spree.

It’s too much to ask that the SBPD would be able to assess the killer’s mental state by doing a welfare check. But that doesn’t mean the killer’s family and therapist shouldn’t have been more engaged when they saw those “troubling” YouTube postings.

It usually goes back to parenting or lack thereof EXCEPT when the person is insane. This guy was a sociopath. He would have thought anybody who tried to do anything to help him was against him. He was delusional. An extreme version of Obama.

crankyoldlady on May 27, 2014 at 7:32 AM

Maybe you’re right. I honestly don’t know. But it always takes us back to the same place — any time the government tries to use this sort of thing as a rationalization for taking away peoples’ rights, we slip further into totalitarianism.

Even with all of my problems in life (and, comparatively speaking, there have been few) I have always been against totalitarianism. I’d rather be shot by a psycho than surrender my freedom.

This guy was a sociopath. He would have thought anybody who tried to do anything to help him was against him. He was delusional. An extreme version of Obama.

crankyoldlady on May 27, 2014 at 7:32 AM

Not accoring to a bunch of stupid women who hijacked this story on Twitter and made it all about him being some right-wing white male misogynist. Even this morning these stupid man-haters are opining that this proves their agenda. Even though four of the victims were male. That doesn’t stop the #YesAllWomen crap that only serves to make these women look like idiots.

There definitely seems to be a lot of people who are very out of touch. As I said up-thread, until not too long ago, I lived a criminal lifestyle.

It never ceased to amaze me how many parents were out of touch with their kids. I knew girls that were literally heroin addicts. Their parents had no idea. And their girls weren’t even trying to hide it.

It’s too much to ask that the SBPD would be able to assess the killer’s mental state by doing a welfare check. But that doesn’t mean the killer’s family and therapist shouldn’t have been more engaged when they saw those “troubling” YouTube postings.

Happy Nomad on May 27, 2014 at 7:41 AM

The police did what they were supposed to do under the law. A sociopath takes great pride in being able to fool people. It makes them feel in control and that they are sticking it to the ones they think are against them. Also under the law you can’t do anything about a crazy adult until he does something illegal. This is going to go on happening until you can legally incarcerate them at least for a psych. evaluation.

Not accoring to a bunch of stupid women who hijacked this story on Twitter and made it all about him being some right-wing white male misogynist. Even this morning these stupid man-haters are opining that this proves their agenda. Even though four of the victims were male. That doesn’t stop the #YesAllWomen crap that only serves to make these women look like idiots.

Happy Nomad on May 27, 2014 at 7:47 AM

I don’t think we should take seriously the simple minded maunderings of the kind of twits that spend their lives on Twitter.

Why is it that nobody is suggesting banning knives? He killed 3 of his 6 victims with knives. This is a case of a spoiled kid from a broken liberal home. He had a mental condition that required care and that got in the way of his father’s career and stepmother’s socializing. Not much said about his real mom – wonder what the backstory is there.

How quaint: father of a madman blames the NRA instead of accepting his failure to do anything to stop his kid from being in a position to injure others. I blame him and the Young Turks show for poisoning his mind.

How quaint: father of a madman blames the NRA instead of accepting his failure to do anything to stop his kid from being in a position to injure others. I blame him and the Young Turks show for poisoning his mind.

crrr6 on May 27, 2014 at 8:07 AM

It’s outrageous that he is using his kid’s insanity to push an agenda. No wonder the kid felt deprived.

It never ceased to amaze me how many parents were out of touch with their kids. I knew girls that were literally heroin addicts. Their parents had no idea. And their girls weren’t even trying to hide it.

WhatSlushfund on May 27, 2014 at 7:52 AM

What would have happened to Elliot if his parents had been good?

The parents you mention were utter failures. Unobservant, inattentive, and clueless. No wonder their kids so often make easily preventable stupid, and worse, mistakes.

He’s right in line with the Left in this regard. Anyone who fits the DHS outline for a potential domestic terrorist will be denied their 2nd Amendment right. It’s already being done with any returning vets who were treated in any way however briefly for PTSD.

When vets leave the service after having been anywhere near combat, they are grilled in their exit interviews to find any excuse to award them benefits for having PTSD. Then they lose their right because they were mental patients, or for instance, let their wives handle the checkbbok.

The only thing–the only thing–preventing the federal government from going rogue and becoming an authoritarian superstate is the willingness of a sizeable portion of the population to take up arms against it as a last resort.

The 2nd Amendment has little to do with personal self-defense and hunting and everything to do with preventing grandiose little would-be dictators from simply reaching out and taking the power they so badly want.

I don’t care what laws these people make or dictate from the bench. If they want my firearms, they’ll need to send a team of very well armed and trained men to come to my home and take them by force, and then repeat that process about 20 million times.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately actually. I’d really like to have kids. I’m getting to that point. I think I’d be a good dad. It’s hard for me, or anyone, I guess, to imagine myself in that position. Parenting must be the hardest job.

But, despite that, I’d really like to have kids. And despite all the weirdness I’ve been through, I’d like to imagine that I could do a good job.

We exist to raise kids. I am confident that I would do a good job. Is every situation perfect? No. But I would be committed to it.

I know that we have a lot of people on this site that have kids. I admire that greatly. I hope that I can have kids one day. First I have to get financially stable. I think that I may have lost my job a few hours ago.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately actually. I’d really like to have kids. I’m getting to that point. I think I’d be a good dad. It’s hard for me, or anyone, I guess, to imagine myself in that position. Parenting must be the hardest job.

But, despite that, I’d really like to have kids. And despite all the weirdness I’ve been through, I’d like to imagine that I could do a good job.

We exist to raise kids. I am confident that I would do a good job. Is every situation perfect? No. But I would be committed to it.

I know that we have a lot of people on this site that have kids. I admire that greatly. I hope that I can have kids one day. First I have to get financially stable. I think that I may have lost my job a few hours ago.

WhatSlushfund on May 27, 2014 at 9:59 AM

I’m sorry to hear about your job. I hope you didn’t lose it.

I think someone like you would be a good parent, because you’re thinking about your responsibilities. Those girls you mentioned with the open heroin addictions-I don’t believe you’d ever let any of your kids get that point. Elliot wasn’t so lucky with his negligent, incompetent parents

I think someone like you would be a good parent, because you’re thinking about your responsibilities. Those girls you mentioned with the open heroin addictions-I don’t believe you’d ever let any of your kids get that point. Elliot wasn’t so lucky with his negligent, incompetent parents

non-nonpartisan on May 27, 2014 at 10:11 AM

Meh. The job kind of sucked anyway. My life has been kind of a roller coaster.

As far as the criminals I’ve known, particularly the girls (for whom I have a soft spot), it was kind of weird. I wanted to help them. But, at the time, I had to swim in the same water as everyone else. I had to do what I had to do to survive. Not that that is an excuse.

I have never been involved in the drug business. I want to make that clear. I was in the sex business.

But, yeah, there’s a lot of stuff to which parents are not attuned. It just really surprised me. How could they not know?

Hopefully, if I have kids one day, I’ll be able to use my experiences to give them a better life.

Meh. The job kind of sucked anyway. My life has been kind of a roller coaster.

As far as the criminals I’ve known, particularly the girls (for whom I have a soft spot), it was kind of weird. I wanted to help them. But, at the time, I had to swim in the same water as everyone else. I had to do what I had to do to survive. Not that that is an excuse.

I have never been involved in the drug business. I want to make that clear. I was in the sex business.

But, yeah, there’s a lot of stuff to which parents are not attuned. It just really surprised me. How could they not know?

Hopefully, if I have kids one day, I’ll be able to use my experiences to give them a better life.

WhatSlushfund on May 27, 2014 at 10:28 AM

If you’re aware, you’ll do ok. That’s how I see it, anyway. It’s the parents who don’t seriously think about their proper role who raise completely dysfunctional children.

I know that we have a lot of people on this site that have kids. I admire that greatly. I hope that I can have kids one day. First I have to get financially stable. I think that I may have lost my job a few hours ago.

WhatSlushfund on May 27, 2014 at 9:59 AM

I hope you haven’t lost your job. If you are worried about being a good parent you probably will be. But it sounds to me as if you need to become more stable in a lot of ways first. You’ll need to find a good woman to do that. Church is a good place to do that. Don’t look for one in a bar. Look for one in a club that is church related. I hope you recognize her when you find her.

I hope you haven’t lost your job. If you are worried about being a good parent you probably will be. But it sounds to me as if you need to become more stable in a lot of ways first. You’ll need to find a good woman to do that. Church is a good place to do that. Don’t look for one in a bar. Look for one in a club that is church related. I hope you recognize her when you find her.

crankyoldlady on May 27, 2014 at 11:29 AM

You’re probably right. This is another think that I’ve been thinking a lot about lately — getting more religious. We’ll see…

Gonna’ let me pick your brains on it? The author seems to be implying that this is what lies ahead in our path here. Agree, disagree, or think he’s just saying “be alert and aware”?

More reference to behavior modification via the means that the Political class uses its influence and power to alter society as a whole to their benefit. I wish more emphasis was placed on learning how to identify when and how these efforts were being made.

Nice reference to the process of acclimation here…

In fact, because people adjust to new circumstances relatively quickly, it is almost impossible for them to compare the condition of life in the present versus the past. The common vernacular for this concept is “the new normal”, which upon the slightest reflection represents an obvious paradox, since the word normal implies a historically stable trend.

What in specific is he referring to here,

For this reason, it is critical that productive members of society take steps to protect themselves.